SOCCER First-Round Games For Hurley Shield

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28868, 13 April 1959, Page 14

SOCCER First-Round Games For Hurley Shield

The 1959 soccer season opened 'on Saturday afternoon in ideal conditions. Grounds were generally in good order after the recent rain. Form was mixed, and Technical Old Boys, runnersup last year, were soundly beaten by Christchurch City in the main match at English Park. In the other games Rangers had a narrow win over Shamrock, Nomads beat Neerlandia United comfortably and Western overwhelmed Atlantis. Results:— Christchurch City 5, Technical Old Boys 1. Rangers 2, Shamrock 1. Nomads 10, Neerlandia United Western 9, Atlantis 0. TECHNICAL OLD BOYS v. CHRISTCHURCH CITY City f H JIy deserved its 5-1 win over Technical at English Park. Conditions were ideal tor good football, play being fast and bright throughout the match, with the City forwards showing particularly good « Tle T echnical Payers were too often slow to the ball, and their passing lacked accuracy. The Technical goalkeeper. H Mathews began poorly, but made some brilliant saves later. He was often left at the mercy of the quick’ passing City forwards by a weak ?,m e E ce . llne ‘ The form °t the full-backs was not impressive, but ie ', da improved in the second Koi, V ’ ~S m,th was frequently beaten in the centre, but the wing halves, K. Hendy and I. Drewitt played good football. At centre-forward R. van Dalsun played deep and distributed the ball reasonably well. This policy did not pay dividends as the City defenders ™ ere J? ulek to intercept. The wings W. Thompson and W. Shannon, tried hard, and Shannon looked the most formidable of the attackers G. Richards handled the ball confidently in goal for City. He was | well shielded by the full-backs. T. I R- La by. At centreinait t. Clackson also defended well City was stronger in midfield, and | there was some excellent play by the inside forwards. E. Bennett and ,T. Munroe. At outside right, A, , 1 rotter was in good form, and his icross kicks were well judged. D. Worthington was equally impressive jon the left flank, and the centreforward, J. Quickenden, received plenty of the ball. Quickenden made the most of his opportunities, scoring three good goals and testing Mathews with several other powerful shots. City scored a surprise goal after three minutes’ play, when Mathews fumbled a shot from Bennett, and Munroe netted from right in front. Late in the half, Worthington slammed in a long shot which hit ! the crossbar and rebounded into play. Quickenden ran in and scored j with a low drive. At half-time I Citv led 2-0. Technical had a spell on attack i early in the second half, and ShanI non scored an excellent goal when be beat Richards with a high drive from 30 yards. Soon after City scored again when Munroe stopoed a neat pass to Quickenden. whose ground shot gave Mathews no chance. City went further ahead when Trotter ran in to slam a wide shot from Worthington into the corner of the net. The final goal was scored by Quickenden. He moved down the centre of the field, beat three defenders, and Mathews with a well-placed shot. Mr T. Gottermcycr was referee SHAMROCK v. RANGERS In the early match at English Park, Rangers beat Shamrock 2-1 in a hard struggle. There was little between the teams, and although Shamrock had the advantage territorially its inside forwards were unable to capitalise on some excellent play by a solid halfline. There was much scrappy play early in the match, but there were some bright patches of play which became more numerous as the game progressed.

J. Callaghan was a sound goalkeeper for Shamrock, and both goals scored against him were shot from close range. At centre-half P. Flynn defended solidly, but the full-backs were unimpressiye. The wing halves. H. Taylor and P. Fletcher, played good football and dominated play in midfield.

The young Shamrock forwards tried hard throughout but lacked finish in front of the goal. J Price played hard at inside left, combining well with his wing, J. Rea. At inside right W. Yates covered a lot of ground, but wasted his scoring opportunities. P. Gatlum, at centre-forward, began slowly but improved later in the match.

In goal for Rangers, W. Adam made some grand saves and was always sound when under pressure. R. Cassey was the better of the full-backs, but the centre-half, J. Adams, was well below his best form. The left-half, P. Cole, played well until he was injured half way through the second spell. He came back later in the game to score the winning goal.

The Rangers forwards showed little combination, but there was some neat individual play. D. Finney did some good work at inside-left, but was too often caught in possession. The left wing, H. Ryall, began well, but lost form in the second half.

There was no score until half way through the second spell. The Rangers inside left, A. Hindi ley, shot for goal, and when S. Orman misjudged his clearing kick the centreforward. T. Rvan. snapped up the ball and beat Callaghan with a hard drive from close in.

P Gatlum, at centre-forward for Shamrock, equalised five minutes later when he gave Adam no chance with a long high drive that flashed into the back of the net. With a few minutes left for play Rangers went ahead. Finney centred well, and the ball rebounded from a goalmouth melee to Cole, who headed neatly past Callaghan. Mr C. Anderson was referee. NOMADS v. NEERLANDIAUNITED. A fast and intelligent Nomads team proved too strong for Neer-landia-United at Linwood Park, overwhelming them 10-3. J. Bouwhis. the Nomads outside left, celebrated his return to the club after two years’ overseas with three excellent goals. Faced with a team which countered their vigorous kick and rush tactics by keeping the ball on the ground and letting it do the work, Neerlandia-United wilted badly in the second half, after being down only 3-2 at the interval. H. Hoevens, the United goalkeeper, had a hectic day. receiving little covering from his backs, but in spite of the big score he acquitted himself well. Nomads' strength was in the forwards. They combined excellently. A van Rooyen and P. Rennell. the two Canterbury representative insides. both played very hard, and got plenty of ball forward to the wings and the centre-forward. Van Rooyen scored the best goal of the match—he beat two men and shot hard along the ground from 25 yards out to find the corner of the net. Bouwhis was the better of the Nomads’ wings, and always tried hard. One of his goals was scored as a result of sheer speed, and he contributed to several others with his excellent centres. The centreforward. B. Lockhart, playing in his first senior match, was not at home for a start, and found some of United blustering play not to his liking. He showed evident talent, how-1 ever, and scored a good goal. D. Simmonds and I. Toth, the Nomads wing halves, both contributed a great deal to their team's success, and were all over the field on attack. Stronger opposition might call their defence into question. Of the Neerlandia team. A. van de Lely (centre-half) always tried hard, as did the wingers, P. -and J. van Hout. Neerlandia did not appear fo play to a plan, however, and with the backs and halves aimlessly bal-

looning the ball downfield, the forwards could do little with it. Neerlandia’s three goals came from broken play, rather than constructive passing. Goals for Nomads were scored by J. Bouwhis (3), D. Simmonds (with one from a penalty), E. McCallum. A. van Rooyen, B. Lockhart, P. Rennell and I. Toth. For Neerlandia, P. van Hout, W. Barendregt and K. Orsouw (who replaced J. van de Griend in the first half) scored. The referee was Mr I. Billcliff. WESTERN OVERWHELMS ATLANTIS Atlantis contested a fairly even first half against Western at Elmwood Park, but in the second half Western overwhelmed a weak defence and won by 9 goals to 0. Team-work and positional play were the contributing factors in Western s victory, contrasting sharply with the disjointed display of Atlantis.

Against the weak Atlantis forward line the Western defence was not strongly tested. There might be weaknesses when they meet a clever combination.

H. Langley had an easy time in , Of the two full-backs, M. Shardlow was more in the picture, as Atlantis did not play to their left wing in the first half. Western’s experienced half-back line of W. Rod--Bers. A. Laffey, and J. Longmuir combined well with their forwards, and covered their full-backs well. C. Steele, on the right wing, made many openings for his inside forwards. P. Saunderson, the left wing, had a big obstacle, the Atlantis right back, but was always dangerous in possession with his speed and anticipation. Western’s inside forwards. P. Feenstra and K. Olley, were in fine form. Feenstra stood out because of his accurate shooting. C. Whitehead, at centre-forward, was always up with the play. Atlantis was strong in defence with its half-back line, but the forwards were unable to hold the ball. J. Hegerty was a good stopper at centre-half, and the captain, J. McGrath, tackled well and was rarelv beaten. A. Condie, at right half, marred a good display by trying to beat the extra man. The forward line was weak. For Western, the goals were scored hV P -& F ,?f’, nstra (3). C. Whitehead 12 >• K. Olley <2>, W. Rodgers (1). and C. Steele (1). The referee was Mr J. Davidson. LOWER GRADES SECOND DIVISION Varsity 9. Celtic 0. City 3. Western 2. H. 5.0.8. 4, Rangers 2. Technical 7. Nomads 0. FOURTH DIVISION Tech. 0.8. 2, Shamrock 0. Atlantis 2. H. 5.0.8. 1. Lincoln College 3, City 0. W.S.D.E. 2, Rangers 1. Watersiders 2, Rangers 1. JUNIOR Shamrock 3, Western 2.